Essays on life and loss
New essay collections shine a light on the lives of two women: a child of the ’60s and one who finds love in her 60s after 25 years of singlehood.
Cambridge writer Leslie Lawrence reflects on summer in the countryside, the Tupperware collection that accumulated as friends brought meals when her partner, Sandy, was dying of cancer, the slumber party held on the occasion of a friend turning 50. Lawrence’s debut collection is “The Death of Fred Astaire and Other Essays from Outside the Lines’’ (State University of New York). The year after Astaire died, by the way, is the year Lawrence underwent artificial insemination (AI), Astaire being a touchstone for her parents’ generation and her own AI marking a break with the old ways. Lawrence, a former student of John Irving, chronicles her adventures with a quiet grace. She states, “My interest in writing arose from the desire to slow down time and explore what is fleeting.’’
If Gwen Romagnoli’s pieces in her self-published collection “Learning To Be a Widow: Stories of Love, Loss, and Lessons Learned Along the Way “ sound familiar, they may be. Some of them were first published in Globe Magazine. At 63, the author met Franco Romagnoli, who became her second husband. In these essays, she examines the questions of widowhood, writing with grace and compassion for herself and the other people in her orbit: Should she keep wearing her wedding ring? Should she get rid of her husband’s clothes? Should she read all the things people give her to read about grief? By the closing essay, she has a new boyfriend. In his kitchen, Romagnoli finds two cookbooks by her late husband. Was this new relationship meant to be? Time will tell.
The works of Laffoley
Before he died last November, visionary artist Paul Laffoley lived and worked for decades in a rented room in Boston. Many of his mandala-like paintings pay homage to philosophers, celebrate an expanded state of consciousness, and feature annotations along the borders. Nearly 100 of his works are featured in the new book “The Essential Paul Laffoley: Works from the Boston Visionary Cell’’ (University of Chicago) edited by Douglas Walla, founder of Kent Fine Art gallery in New York. One of the most striking paintings in the book is “The City Can Change Your Life.’’ Created in 1962, 39 years before 9/11, it depicts an airplane striking Manhattan.
Nantucket Book Fest
Naturalist and essayist Diane Ackerman, novelist Marlon James, and historian Nathaniel Philbrick are among the stars aligning at the Nantucket Book Festival June 17-19. The three will discuss the films based on their books. Also appearing will be Steven Axelrod, author of “Nantucket Grand’’ (Poisoned Pen), the newest addition to the Henry Kennis mystery series set on Nantucket and featuring a poet police chief; public-radio talk-show host Diane Rehm; and Nantucket beach novelists Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer. Most events are free.
Coming out
¦ “Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen’’ by Alison Weir (Ballantine)
¦ “Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet’’ by Jeffrey Rosen (Yale University)
¦ “The View From the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction’’ by Neil Gaiman (Morrow)
Pick of the Week
Yooree Losordo of On the Dot Books in Dorchester recommends “Bounders’’ by Monica Tesler (Simon & Schuster): “Twelve-year-old Jasper is bullied on Earth but finds his tribe at an elite astronaut training camp. They bond by defending the planet against an alien society. This first book in a new series by local author — aimed at readers 10 to 14 — is great fun.’’
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
